


Flowers For Your Grave

by watercolorwoman



Series: Persona Rarepair Week - Akeharu [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Hanahaki Disease, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers, Romance, Sexual Tension, Third Semester (Persona 5)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:29:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27684949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watercolorwoman/pseuds/watercolorwoman
Summary: (Persona 5 Royal Spoilers)Goro Akechi knew better than to fall in love in the small time he had left. That, unfortunately, doesn't stop him from coughing.Day 1 for Rarepair week: Roleswap/Hanahaki Day
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Okumura Haru
Series: Persona Rarepair Week - Akeharu [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024503
Kudos: 27





	Flowers For Your Grave

It was bad enough Goro was stuck coming back to life. He had accepted death at the hands of his cognitive self and the shadows that haunted him. He closed his eyes, and saw nothing. Of course he'd wake up, alive somehow - No, there were worse things. 

Like joining their team all over again. Sure, Ren was 'kind' enough to let him back in as Ryuji never seemed to fail to remind him. He had to endure awkward Mementos visits and stares from the rest of the team whenever he so much looked in their direction. He hated the need to still put on some kind of face - No, there was something even worse than that. 

It started about a week in, after the teammates had returned. He grips onto the edge of his bathroom sink, feeling the urge to throw up. He reaches for the phone, nearly calling Ren to tell him he wasn't feeling well. What good would he be if he was keeping them behind? 

Goro clears his throat, but there's a tickle there. Something soft, unfamiliar. Assuming the absolute worst, he allowed himself to cough into the sink. A single pink petal appears. 

Of course he'd fall in love, what a ridiculous feeling. The unfortunate part of it was determining who it was since he felt utterly clueless of the source. Knowing now it was something as stupid as love, he prepares for another day into Maruki's palace. 

Going into the kitchen, he starts to put together a simple breakfast, considering his options. For one most of the group was already paired off and he was smart enough to know even that was an issue. Makoto and Ryuji were clearly together, or at the very least 'hooking up.' Even more so, their hatred towards him was obvious and mostly mutual. 

A sip of bitter black coffee goes down his throat, helping him forget the feeling of the soft petal. His mind continues to think. Futaba and Yusuke were awkward, but he was almost certain they were together. Even more so, they were both far too strange for him to want to comprehend and he'd keep it that way. 

Goro coughs up another petal. With a groan, he grabs a piece of toast and hopes the rougher material will mask the flower taste now appearing in his mouth. He moves on to the next group. Ren and Ann had been dating before he'd even met the group. Ren was the closest thing he had to a friend, and even then that was pushing it. Ann was too much of an airhead for him and he immediately cross her off the list. 

The toast helps, and with some time to spare, he throws on his casual outfit. Fixing his jacket and scarf in the mirror, he swallows dry air. He'd run out of couples, and that left two people: Sumire and Haru. 

Truthfully, he saw Sumire as far too immature. He still couldn't wrap his head around Maruki taking advantage of her that way, much less deal with the baggage that came with the Kasumi/Sumire debate. She was nice, pretty as well, but not for him. 

That only left one person…

"Haru Okumura?" He asks himself. He watches his reflection cough up multiple petals, and he thinks back to their last mission. 

Ruthless as always, he never cared for the shadow's lives. They were just that: shadows. Why care for something that wasn't real, something meant to cause chaos? No, it was ridiculous whenever the team tried to calm him down when all he wanted to do was slaughter them. 

But Haru, she was the only one with the same blood-thirsty eyes as him whenever she killed. There were moments he saw himself in her, both while he was still the 'detective prince' and his own true self. Anytime they accidentally made eye contact, he wore he could see a smidge of red in her eyes. 

Goro throws on his shoes and makes the trek to the train station. But why now? What made this last trip so different? Nothing stands out to him until he makes it to LeBlanc. One of the first ones there, he goes to his usual booth away to hide. The others flood in over time, choosing to ignore him. 

When Haru finally arrives, he sees her eyes. She's calm for a moment, waving to the rest of the team before she takes her seat at the booth. Sojiro places a cup of coffee in front of her, small bits of steam coming out from it. She delicately picks up the cup, and looks at him from the corner of her eyes. 

It was the same look she gave the shadows, the same one that meant business. 

Time stops.

That was it. Finding someone with the same amount of hatred in their heart for one person, someone who could understand his struggles. She liked killing shadows, she'd even mentioned it was a stress reliever for her before. 

He goes into a coughing fit, trying to hold back the petals but it's too late. The team sees a small pile form on his booth. 

"I didn't realize he had a heart to love someone." Ryuji jabs at him. "Better spill, that shit is deadly." 

Goro stares up at Ryuji. He wipes his mouth with his sleeve. "I'd rather die." 

"Let's stay focused for now." Ren calms the scene. His only friend looks at him, and it's a look he's given him a handful of times. It meant that he was going to try and help him, and unfortunately, there wouldn't be anything he could do about it. 

\--

"Good job team! See everyone in a few days!" Ren breaks the team up, and everyone goes to their own separate directions. As Goro is about to walk away, he feels Ren's hand on his shoulder. "Nope, not you. We should talk about the petals." 

He groans. "This is the least of my concerns right now. In case you haven't noticed, we just secured the route and now we're stuck waiting." 

"We'll get it done. Let's go play darts, you can go first so you get the three turns." Ren clasps his hands together, a stupid pleading looking on his face. Rolling his eyes, Goro starts walking in the general direction they'd need to go. 

"Fine, but you're paying." Goro says, not looking back. 

Playing darts was always an easy way to get him to talk, and Ren knew that. As a result, Goro had gotten far better at the game as Ren has tried to pull more and more information out of him. He figured it was to get valuable information on the betrayal he'd inevitably do in Sae's palace, but the questions were too personal, too irrelevant. Actually friendly. 

It disgusted him. 

Just like it disgusted him when he was about to throw a dart, coughed up another few petals and totally missed the board and cost them the win. Of course, Ren didn't do anything about it. He just put his hands in his pockets, staring down at the petals in Goro's hands. 

"Come on, who is it?" Ren calmly asks. 

"If I tell you, will you leave me alone?" 

"No," Ren shrugs. "But I won't stop asking until you do." 

Goro seethes. "You infuriate me sometimes… Okumura." 

Ren smirks, pulling his phone put. As he types out a message, he says "Called it, Ann owes me dinner now." 

"Are you serious?" Goro angrily asks him. "This is ridiculous, I'm leaving." 

Ren quickly puts his phone away, moving to block his way from leaving. "Okay I'm sorry! I'll be serious though, you should tell her." 

"And what? Have her try to kill me with her axe?" Somehow, the idea doesn't sound as unappealing as he thinks. Maybe if he can tell her as they’re running away from the crumbling palace, she'll just kill him before Maruki inevitably erases him out of existence. 

"She won't kill you. But you should tell her before we steal the treasure." 

Goro groans, "If I tell her the day before we go to steal Maruki's treasure, then will you drop this?" 

Ren smiles. "Yeah, but if you don't think I'm going to find a way to set this up, then you have another thing coming." 

\--

The day before the treasure is stolen, Maruki officially broke the truth to Ren. Goro was a dead man walking, and he was perfectly okay with that. Ren, not surprisingly, tried to talk him out of it, but he eventually convinced him to stick with the original deal. The one thing Goro wanted was to be free from another man trying to toy with his emotions. 

So when the tension finally passed and both their tempers simmered, Ren gave him yet another stupid smile. 

"So that just means you definitely have to see Haru today. Come on, she's already waiting for us in Shibuya." Ren says, half pushing him out of LeBlanc. The entire trip there, Goro coughs up petals. It's gotten worse and more painful over the past week, and thankfully Ren was the only one to notice his worsening condition since Goro carefully avoided meeting with the others. 

His heart was pounding as he stepped off the train with Ren, following him to see Haru. She gave the same smile to Ren, but stayed neutral with him. Just great, the easy death he was looking for was around the corner. Before Goro knows what's happening, the train station starts to shift into Mementos. The three of them are back in their metaverse outfits

"Um, Ren? What are you doing?" Noir asks, confused. She plays with the handle of her axe, tossing it lightly between her palms. 

"Well, Goro wants to fight you one on one." He's not sure if it's from the sheer shock of Ren's statement, which will go down as one of the few times he respected him, or the flowers themselves, which burn his throat as they fall out again. 

"He looks like he's in bad shape." Haru looks at him softly. Hm, it wasn't the worst look, but not the one he wanted. He liked seeing her mad, and Ren had just given him a way in. Straightening himself up, he goes right up to Haru. 

"Even in my worst shape, I can still defeat you." He lightly jabs her shoulder. 

She smiles at Goro, her tone overly cheery. "I would not hesitate to kill you if you crossed me." He wonders if she feels the same strange tensions, one filled with hatred and yet, it was oddly sexual. 

"Okay, um," Ren clears his throat. The two step away from each other. Based on the way she tiptoes back, he takes it as a confirmation. "You two have fun, I'm gonna go. Just stay up here, the shadows won't bother you." 

"But-" 

"K bye!" Ren waves, already going back into reality. Looking back at each other, Goro feels the pain in his lungs come back. But that wasn't going to stop him from at least getting this fight in. 

"Would you like to wager something?" Haru asks. 

"Like what?" 

She puts her finger on her chin, thinking for a moment before answering. "If I win, then you tell me who is the reason for your petals." 

Goro doesn't want to agree, but it didn't seem like she was done. "And if you win?" 

Haru digs into her pocket, pulling out black flower petals. "I'll tell you why I'm coughing petals up as well." 

He cocks an eyebrow, already preparing to fight her. Why would she suddenly have petals as well? "And I suppose you have the advantage because I'm further along than you." 

She laughs, ripping the mask off and unleashing Lucy. "I wouldn't need it." 

Oh, it was on. 

Goro pulls out Hereward, the final awakening of his persona. She seems shocked for a moment, but that all disappears. He knew Haru never held back in her fight, and it showed. She was just as ruthless as she was. Taking any moment Goro was mildly hesitating, and going in with a serious blow to the gut. 

However, he knew he was still stronger than her. She was good at finding times to hit him when he didn't expect it, but his hits were always harder. After some back and forth, sweat dripping from both of their faces, she finally trips up enough for him to get a good hit in. 

Haru goes flying, her body hitting the wall. With the mask having returned to her face, he knew this was it. As she's about to move forward, he lunges for her. Mask back on his face as well, the glowing red saber is at her throat. His other arm keeps her in place against the wall

The two breathing hard, she looks down at the saber. Her face had a red tint to it, as did his. They stay like that a moment too long, but neither make the attempt to move. The same sexual tension from earlier returns, but Joker wasn't there to interrupt them. 

Finally, he pulls the saber away from her throat, but doesn't try to move away from her. Despite the potential death she could've had, she still looked determined. He watches her eyes flick to his lips, and back up to his eyes. He instinctively finds himself doing the same thing. Both of them remove their masks at the same time

"Your petals." He says simply. She just nods, grabbing the black collar on his neck and bringing him close to her. It's a tougher pull than he expects, but she doesn't hesitate once to kiss him. Without breaking the momentum, he adjusts his position to deepen the kiss. 

He's able to push her more directly against the wall, their kisses becoming much more frenzied and hungry. She moves her hands around his neck, clawing her way down his back until she hears him groan. 

Goro moves his hands down her sides, feeling up everything along the way until he stops at her hips. It's the best he's felt since he coughed up the first petal. When they both finally pull away for air, their eyes open. Both widen with the realization of what happened. 

She blushes deeply. "Um, I suppose we both were given the answers we were looking for." 

"Yes, it's unfortunate though isn't it? For both of us?" He gently moves her hair, going to kiss her neck. She starts to melt into him. He continues in between kisses and bites, "What would our fathers and teammates have to say about this?"

"I don't care." She moans. "If this is really your last night alive, I'm taking advantage of it." 

He laughs into her neck, the warm air hitting her. He can feel the small goosebumps forming on her skin. Any feeling in his lungs and throat disappears. It's the first time he doesn't feel like death in days. If this is how he was going to spend his last night alive, then he'd take it

"So be it."


End file.
